I Don't Want To Be A Hero Today
by Bookworm1063
Summary: A bunch of the excerpts from Cath's fic Carry On, Simon, strung together into what happened when Simon and Baz skipped Policikal Science one day.


Simon sat up in bed, shoving one hand through his curls. The sun was shining through the window (which Baz had closed again), and all Simon could think was that he really, _really _didn't want to go to Politickal Science.

_"I just don't want to," Simon said. _

_ "Don't want to what?" Baz asked. He was sitting on his desk, eating an apple. He left the apple in his teeth and started tying his green and purple school tie. Simon still had to use a mirror for that. Even after seven years. _

_ "_Anything_," Simon said, pressing his head back into his pillow. "I don't want to _do _anything. I don't even want to start this day because then I'll just be expected to finish it." _

_ Baz finished his half-Windsor and took a bite out of the apple. "Now, now, Snow, that doesn't sound like the 'the most powerful magician in a hundred ages' talking." _

_ That's such crap," Simon said. "Who even started calling me that?" _

_ "Probably the Mage. He won't shut up about you. 'The one who was prophesied,' 'the hero we've been waiting for,' et cetera. _

_ "I don't want to be a hero."_

_ "Liar." Baz's eyes were cool grey and serious. _

_ "Today," Simon said, chastened. "I don't want to be a hero today." _

_ Baz looked at his apple core, then tossed it onto Simon's desk. "Are you trying to talk me into skipping Politickal Science?" _

_ "Yes." _

_ "Done," Baz said. "Now, get up."_

_ Simon grinned and leapt out of bed._

"Get dressed," Baz demanded, sliding off the desk. "We haven't got all day."

"Isn't that exactly what we do have?"

"Shut up, Snow."

o-o-o-o-o

Everyone was in class, so the grounds were completely deserted. Baz grabbed Simon's hand as they walked, and Simon squeezed Baz's fingers in his own.

"Where are we going?" he asked. Baz didn't bother to respond. He just kept walking, to a door that Simon hadn't even known existed, half-hidden at the base of the Weeping Tower.

"Come on," Baz said, putting his free hand on the door and pushing.

"Where does this lead?" Simon asked, following Baz into… the kitchen? "How did you even know this was here?"

"Cook Pritchard is my cousin," Baz said. "Let's get you some food, Snow. I know you can't function on an empty stomach."

"Simon," Simon said. "Call me Simon. You have before."

"You must have been imagining things." The kitchen was empty, so Baz opened one of the huge cabinets and started grabbing food, tossing it into a basket.

"Are we seriously going on a picnic? Like, really?"

"What's wrong with a picnic? Do you have something against nature?"

Simon laughed, feeling a wide grin break out across his face. Baz looked at him then, and Simon could see the warmth in his boyfriend's gaze. "If either one of us was going to have something against nature," Simon pointed out, "I'd have thought it'd be you."

"Let's not be ridiculous. I love nature. Sunshine and unicorns and whatever the fuck else."

"Unicorns?" Simon snorted. "Why unicorns?"

"I don't know, it was the first thing I thought of." Baz handed Simon the picnic basket. "Now stop talking about unicorns."

Simon slung the handle of the picnic basket over his arm and grabbed Baz's hand again. "You're the one who brought them up."

Baz rolled his eyes and started walking, back out of the kitchen and down the slope, towards the football pitch and the Wavering Wood.

Simon grinned and followed him outside.

o-o-o-o-o

"This is nice," Simon said.

"Hmm." Baz was leaning back on both hands, sitting on a blanket, the basket open and mostly empty next to him. Simon had flopped down on his back with his head resting in Baz's lap.

Baz glanced down at his boyfriend, admiring the way the late morning sunshine turned his hair and skin into pure gold. Simon must have felt his stare, because he opened his ordinary blue eyes and said, "What?"

Baz almost made a sarcastic comment, before remembering that he didn't have to do that anymore. "You're criminally handsome," he said. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

The smile on Simon's face seemed to grow, if that was possible. "Who'd have thought it? Baz Pitch has a soft side."

Baz rolled his eyes and pulled his lips back into a halfhearted snarl, which just made Simon laugh. He sat up, shifting so he was facing Baz, and leaned in to kiss him.

Baz closed his eyes as Simon pressed his lips against his own, wrapping his arms around Simon's waist and letting Simon play with his hair as they kissed. Baz forgot everything that wasn't Simon, didn't think about the War, or the Humdrum, or the Mage, or the Old Families, or how much trouble they were both in if anyone saw them out here, skipping class to make out on the lawn. He just kissed his boyfriend and let the rest go.

"Baz?" Simon asked, pulling away after a few minutes (or maybe it was a few hours. Baz wasn't sure) (The sun seemed to be in the same place in the sky, so it couldn't have been that long).

"What, Snow?" Baz asked, resting his forehead against Simon's.

"You're not so bad looking, yourself."

Baz laughed and leaned in to kiss Simon again.

o-o-o-o-o

By the time the two boys made it back to their dorm, they'd missed lunch, which Simon was complaining about.

"Crowley, Snow," Baz said, pushing open the door to their room. "I've got a few mint Aeros. You can have one."

Simon's face lit up like the sun. "Really?"

"Yeah. Here." Baz tossed the wrapped candy bar across the room, and Simon sat down on Baz's bed to eat it. Baz wrinkled his nose.

"You'll get chocolate on my sheets."

"Guess you'll have to sleep in my bed, then." Simon grinned and made sure to let a few crumbs fall out of the wrapper before he threw it away. He couldn't quite tell, but he thought Baz might be blushing.

"You're impossible."

"I'm improbable."

Baz resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Simon grinned up at him, leaving Baz flustered and stammering- not that he would ever admit to it. Baz reached for his bag, abandoned on his desk chair that morning.

"I have some homework to do, Snow."

Simon pouted, leaning back against Baz's headboard. "Can I come?"

"I suppose."

Simon hopped off the bed and grabbed his bag off the floor, grinning like a maniac. This time, Baz couldn't help it- he smiled.

o-o-o-o-o

Baz dropped his bag on top of a free desk in the library and started stacking textbooks on the polished wooden surface. Simon threw himself down into the chair next to him, tugging at his tie and frowning at Baz's pile of work.

"Since when do you leave this stuff to the last minute?"

"Since I skipped class to spend time with my idiot boyfriend," Baz said. "Now be quiet, Snow. We have a Magic Words exam tomorrow and I need to study."

Simon groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Fuck. I completely forgot about that." He peeked out from between his fingers. "Can I borrow your notes?"

"I need my notes," Baz pointed out, but he had already slid one of his notebooks over to Simon's side of the desk.

"I love you."

Baz told himself not to blush, but of course he did anyway.

o-o-o-o-o

They ended up abandoning their homework on the desk and hiding behind the shelves as students came and went in the hours before dinner. Every now and then, Baz would stop to pull a book from its shelf and read the back, or skim a passage here or there. Simon leaned back against the shelves next to him, watching; the way his hair fell into his face, or the way he sucked on his fangs when he was thinking (and when he didn't think Simon was watching).

o-o-o-o-o

_"You can't shave your head. You'll look mental." _

_ "I look worse than mental with this hair. I look evil." _

_ "There's no such thing as evil hair," Simon giggled. They were lying on the floor of the library between two rows of shelves. Baz on his back. Simon propped up on one shoulder. _

_ "Look at me," Baz said, pushing his chin-length hair back from his forehead. "Every famous vampire has a widow's peak like this. I'm a cliché. It's like I went to the barber and asked for 'a Dracula.'"_

_ Simon was laughing so hard, he nearly fell forward onto Baz. Baz shoved him up with his free hand._

_ "I mean, honestly," Baz said, still holding back his hair, trying to keep a straight face. "It's like an arrow on my face. _This way to the vampire_." _

_ Simon swatted Baz's hand away and kissed the point of his hairline as gently as he could. "I like your hair," Simon said against Baz's forehead. "Really, really." _

"You're being ridiculous, Snow," Baz said, but Simon could hear the smile in his voice, even if he couldn't see it.

Simon flopped down on his back, lying next to Baz, and turned his head to the side. "You like that, though."

Baz was watching him out of the corners of his eyes. "Unfortunately. I have terrible taste."

Simon huffed in equal parts annoyance and fondness. "Rude."

"You like that, though," Baz said, parroting Simon.

Simon didn't say anything, because he would have been forced to admit that Baz was right.

o-o-o-o-o

Eventually they had to leave the library, because Simon would be useless if they didn't get some food into him at some point. They ate dinner with Penelope, who berated them for skipping class the moment she saw them. _Honestly, you two are insufferable. I should've known you'd be a bad influence on him, Pitch._

Baz had to hunt, something he still refused to let Simon watch, so Simon returned to Mummer's House alone. Penny offered to come, but Simon rolled his eyes and reminded her that she had a perfectly good bed in a perfectly good room that she wouldn't get expelled for using.

The door creaked open after a few hours. Simon was already in his pyjamas, trying to study and failing miserably at it. Baz slid into the room and grabbed a few things from his wardrobe, kissing the top of Simon's head without a word on his way to the bathroom.

Simon gave up on studying and leaned back in his chair, waiting. He heard the shower start, and fished another Mint Aero out of Baz's lower desk drawer.

He was just tossing the wrapper into the trash can across the room when the door opened, and Baz entered the room with a cloud of steam and the distinct scent of his posh soap. Simon wrinkled his nose.

"Stop eating my Aero bars," Baz said. "I have to bring those from home, you know."

"Hmm." Simon watched Baz drop down onto his bed and run his hand over the sheet.

"Really, Snow? My bed is covered in Aero crumbs."

Simon shrugged. "Sorry."

Baz stood up again and dropped his uniform in the hamper. Simon never bothered with that; it was probably why he was down to his last clean Watford jumper. "You know we don't get clean sheets until Sunday."

"You could always stay with me." The words were out of Simon's mouth before he'd really thought them through- again. He could feel the blood rushing to his face.

"Alright."

Simon had been purposefully watching the floor by Baz's feet; now he snapped his gaze up to the other boy's face.

"I mean… If you don't mind," Baz mumbled. "It's okay if you don't want to."

"No," Simon said quickly. "No, I don't mind."

"Okay then."

"Okay." Simon stood up and crossed the room to take Baz's hand. He tugged him back over to the side of his own bed, then reached to turn the lights off.

Simon had no idea what to do next, so he sat down, accidentally yanking Baz with him.

He could practically _hear_ Baz roll his eyes.

_"Have you ever done this before?" _

_ "Yes. No."_

_ "Yes or no?"_

_ "Yes. Not like this."_

_ "Not with a boy?"_

_ "Not when I really wanted it."_

It was true. Simon had shared a bed with Penny, but that was more out of necessity than anything else- the Bunces didn't have a spare room. He'd fallen asleep with his head on Agatha's shoulder once, over Christmas holidays, but that was hardly the same thing.

Simon kicked the blankets to the bottom of the mattress and scooted backwards. Baz hesitated, then followed.

They lay down facing each other, and after a moment, Simon yanked the covers back up and leaned forward to kiss Baz.

"Good night."

"Good night, Snow."

o-o-o-o-o

Simon wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up, skin sweaty and tears streaming down his cheeks. He sat up, yanking his legs free of the blankets- he probably would have fallen off the bed, if Baz hadn't been between him and the floor.

Simon pulled his knees up to his chest, gasping for breath. The dream had seemed so real-

"Snow?" Baz had pushed himself up on one elbow. Simon couldn't quite see him, but he could feel the mattress bouncing underneath them as Baz adjusted his weight. "Simon. Are you alright?"

Simon couldn't answer. He just tucked his head into the side of Baz's neck. Baz's arm came up over his shoulders immediately, and he shifted so he was holding Simon properly, arms wrapped around him. Baz's cheek was resting against Simon's bronze curls.

_"Shhh."_

_ "I just-"_

_ "Hush."_

_ "I worry-"_

_ "Don't."_

_ "But-"_

_ "Simon."_

_ "Baz?"_

_ "Here."_

Baz held Simon while he cried, and he didn't ask what had happened until Simon had calmed down, minutes or hours later. Simon was grateful; all he wanted to do, in that moment, was hold on to Baz. So he did.

"What was it?" Baz asked eventually, still with his arms around Simon's shoulders.

Simon shrugged, hiccupping slightly. "Nothing, really. Just the usual."

Baz buried his nose in Simon's hair. Simon didn't really need to say anything else. Baz knew what _the usual_ meant as well as Simon did. The Humdrum destroying the world, Watford in flames, friends and family dead, the other person dead or dying or gone.

"Can you sleep?" Baz asked. Simon nodded.

"Stay, though?"

"Obviously. My bed is still full of Aero crumbs."

Simon chuckled slightly as he lay down, still in Baz's arms. The shaking had stopped, and his face was only a little damp. Simon tried to push the image of Baz bleeding out on the cobblestones in Watford's courtyard out of his head; it was easier when they were wrapped around each other like this.

Baz pressed a kiss to Simon's temple. "Sleep, love," he whispered, and Simon did.

o-o-o-o-o

When Simon woke up the next morning, Baz was lying next to him, still sleeping. Simon took advantage of the opportunity to watch him.

Baz looked younger asleep. Simon supposed most people probably did, but Baz was the only person Simon had ever bothered to really watch, so he couldn't say.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's creepy, watching people sleep like that?" Baz muttered. Awake, then.

"You do it," Simon pointed out. Baz just grunted and opened one eye, then the other. Simon watched in poorly disguised fascination.

"You alright, Simon?" Baz asked softly.

"Yeah." Simon rested his forehead against Baz's. "Thanks."

Baz didn't say anything, just kissed Simon before sitting up. "Are we going to class today, then? Up to being the hero again?"

Simon grinned. "Yeah."

He got out of bed.


End file.
